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Saturday, January 21, 2017

Destroyers and Betrayers



DESTROYERS AND BETRAYERS

1-21-2017

An enemy will destroy you but a friend will betray you.

David, Absalom, & Ahithophel
King David’s son, Absalom desired to be king during the reign of David and he plotted to have David killed.  Absalom began his assault by ingratiating himself with many of the citizens by acting as a sympathetic judge for their issues.  Eventually, it became known that Absalom had convinced enough people to side with him.  David, who loved his son, would not take vengeance into his own hands and traveled out of Jerusalem with an army of men and separated himself from the attempted coup.

David’s longtime friend and counselor, Ahithophel, appeared to side with Absalom and gave him a plan to overtake David.  Through an act of God, Ahithophel’s advice was replaced by advice from a friend of David who had gone to Absalom pretending to be an ally.  When his plan was not followed and it appeared that Absalom was not following his advice, Ahithophel went to his residence, put his affairs in order and hanged himself.

Absalom’s new plan and strategy was to personally lead an army against David.  In route to the war zone while riding a mule, Absalom’s hair got tangled into the limbs of a tree and he was left hanging by his hair.  Joab, a military leader of David, threw darts at Absalom and allowed ten young soldier’s to kill him.

Jesus, Judas, & the Jewish Leaders
The Gospel story concerning the plot to undermine and eliminate Jesus by the Jewish leaders is generally well known by the majority of Bible students.  Most theologians agree the Jewish priests and teachers knew or highly suspected that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah or at least a mighty prophet of God.  It is said they desired a military type candidate who would rid the land of the Romans and institute a kingdom where the Judeans would rule the world.  A suffering Messiah did not meet their expectations.  It has also been said they did not desire to relinquish their power and authority to a Messiah who did not agree with their religious concepts and practices as well as their military aspirations.  As such, the Jewish leaders were the usurpers of the throne as was Absalom during the reign of David.

Judas, a friend of Jesus, was the betrayer, the son of perdition (apoleia). 

John 17:12 KJV  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition (apoleia); that the scripture might be fulfilled.

The majority of theologians believe that Judas remained a friend of Jesus, but desired that He take control of the leaders, prove his Messianic authority, and become the Messiah King of Judea.  His supposed plan was to place Jesus into a position where it would be necessary for Him to provide a miraculous miracle to finally convince everyone that He was indeed the promised Messiah.  Judas, apparently, did not fully understand the plan of God that was being fulfilled by Jesus.  It appears that other disciples did not fully understand the plan of God for Jesus but they did not concoct such a dangerous plan of action.  Judas took money from the priests because he was the type of person more than willing to collect money.  When events didn’t go as planned, his guilt and shame for the events he precipitated, led him to return the money and hang himself.

Ahithophel was a friend of David and Judas was a friend of Jesus.  Whatever the reason for their betrayal, the realization of their actions led both to hang themselves.  David was a type of Christ and and God allowed him to return to his kingdom.  Jesus, required to fulfill the plan of God, was crucified and then resurrected but returned to His throne at the right hand of God.  Absalom, the usurper, was killed and his plot against David came to an end.  The Jewish leaders remained living but their temple and city were destroyed in 70 AD during which many priests were killed and others dispersed around the known world.

Jesus, the Little Horn, & the Zionists
The above two stories of betrayal, in which a throne was attempted to be usurped from the rightful king has a third prophetic fulfillment.  The third instance will be connected to the return of Christ for His second work.

The beast from the sea of Revelation must be understood as the “little horn” of Daniel 7 and the scarlet beast of Revelation 17.  The “little horn”, as its name implies, is an extension of the Roman Empire or the Roman Church controlled by the Papacy.  When the Empire fell, the Roman Church took power and control.  The finances of the Roman Church were given to the Rothschild banking system several years after the French Revolution when the reigning Pope was killed in prison by Napoleon and then later reinstated when Napoleon believed he needed a Pope to crown him as emperor.  This beast was a persecutor of any Christian holding any view contrary to that of the Church prior to the French Revolution.   It (the beast) also “goes to destruction (apoleia)” at some point in the future (perhaps the near future).
apōleia  apoleia
Thayer Definition:  1) destroying, utter destruction   2) a perishing, ruin, destruction

Revelation 17:11 KJV  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition (or destruction) (apoleia).

The modern usurpers are, again, the so-called Jews in the modern nation of Israel and around the world.  Several articles have already been written about this mixture of Khazarian gangsters, Edomite Jews, and perhaps a few actual Jews.  Some of their group financed the Scofield commentary Bible which spawned the dispensational pre-tribulation rapture theory.  They (the Jews) claim to be God’s chosen people with no need for Jesus Christ, the New Testament or the Church, and that their Old Testament religion continues to be valid, although it is not.

The pre-tribulation rapture people think the Church will be raptured at heaven so that God can deal with the Jews without the Christians in their way.  They also consider the Church to be a kind of secondary or subordinate event in the plan of God concerning His dealings with the Jews (or Israel as they claim all the tribes constitute the Jews which they do not).

The betrayer is no longer a single individual but a group of people called the Christian Zionists which includes the pre-tribulation rapturists.  Their main focus, whether they are aware or not, is assisting the Jews to steal the birthright promise and the birthright name which is Israel.  Both the birthright promise and the birthright name were given to the sons of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) and not to any person claiming descent from the tribe of Judah or Benjamin.  After the separation, the northern ten tribes, which included Ephraim, retained the name of Israel and the southern kingdom called themselves Judah.

The Christian Zionists are inadvertently betraying Jesus by supporting the desire of the Jewish leaders to usurp the throne of Jesus and usurp the birthright of Joseph and the name “Israel” which was given to Jacob, then Joseph, and lastly Ephraim.

Jews, and others, who are not of the remnant of grace desire to usurp the name Israel for themselves.  They claim to be chosen by God, by basing their claim on the flesh as if they are descendants of Abraham.  Jacob was not born with the name Israel.  It was given to him by God through an angel after he realized that God is in control rather than himself.

When northern Israel (ten tribes) was taken to Assyria, the birthright appeared to be lost, along with the so-called “lost tribes of Israel.” More than a century after this, the southern House of Judah went into a 70-year captivity to Babylon, and then returned in order that Jesus might be born in Bethlehem of Judah, as prophesied in Micah 5: 2.  When Jesus came to Judah in His first appearance, He came to claim the scepter and throne of His father David. But in His second appearance, He comes to claim the birthright of Joseph and to take back the name Israel from those who usurped the name for themselves in 1948. 

Revelation 19:13 portrays Jesus returning with a “vesture dipped in blood”.  When Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit and then sold him to Ishmaelites traveling to Egypt, they dipped his coat into the blood of a killed goat as a false report that he died of injuries.  The two appearances of Jesus are required.  The first appearance was to receive the dominion promise of the scepter given to Judah, which is the right to rule.  The second appearance will be to receive the fruitfulness promise given to Joseph and then handed to Ephraim.

Revelation 19:13 KJV  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Genesis 37:31 KJV  And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

What is fruitfulness?  The gospel can bear fruit by growing in number and spreading to many people.  People can bear fruit by living the commandments of Jesus which is essentially:  Loving God the Father and loving one’s neighbor as oneself.  Note that the first Christians were Benjamites and Jews, then Greeks, and then Europeans.  The majority of Christians are western Europeans, Americans, Australians, Canadians, and those of New Zealand.  These groups are mostly all the descendants of the ten tribes of northern Israel (excluding Africans, Hispanics, and Arabs, although God welcomes all people into the Kingdom of God).

Even if all the modern Jews are from the tribe of Judah and/or Benjamin they do not possess the right to call themselves Israel because they are not descendants of the ten tribes of northern Israel.  They can, however, be again included as one of Israel by confessing faith and allegiance to Jesus Christ.

The beast from the sea, or the little horn, is a religious beast which has expanded beyond the Roman Church with many Protestant denominations.  It is the disciple and “friend” of Jesus who ends up betraying Him at the end of the age. This religious beast, then, is a Christian beast.  The little horn or beast will be judged when the corporate entity “goes to destruction”.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Babylon: The Great Harlot



BABYLON: THE GREAT HARLOT

The great harlot of Revelation 17 is primarily an oppressive world system based on fallen man that ultimately traces back to the sin of Adam.  It is the corporate manifestation of Adam in all of its worst attributes, the fruit of corruptible seed.  Written on her forehead is the name, “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.” 

In Revelation 13 we were introduced to the earth beast which has been identified primarily as the Rothschild’s banking system.  It began as a guardianship for the Roman Church and has grown to be an international system.  The Earth Beast   Scripturally, “money is the root of all evil” and the international banking system is a large part of Mystery, Babylon but it is not the only abomination associated with world idolatry.  

In 17:1 the great harlot is described as an entity who “sits of many waters”.  According to 17:15 the waters are identified as “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues” which would include the majority of the planet.  This metaphoric concept can be verified by referring to Isaiah 57:20-21. 

Isaiah 57:20-21 KJV  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.  (21)  There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

In addition to sitting on “many waters” the harlot is also viewed as sitting on a scarlet beast as seen in 17:3.  The scarlet beast can be considered as relatively equivalent to the many waters which is the earth or many nations in turmoil and perplexity.   However, the beast with seven heads and ten horns is a more specific group of nations surrounded by the many nations of many waters.

The harlot in verse one is the same harlot as verse 3 where she is labeled “the mother of harlots” in addition to a “great harlot”.  This harlot is the madam of a spiritual brothel for the kings of the earth.  The brothel may include many people over a period of time who have contributed to the Babylon concept.  Church-wise it could be the Roman Church and the many man made Protestant denominations that have been produced.

In scripture abominations are idols or places to worship idolatry. The worship of idols or false gods was the act of committing harlotry or adultery.

2 Kings 23:13 KJV  And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

A few prophets also speak of idolatry as harlotry and adultery.

Jeremiah 3:9 KJV  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

Also Jeremiah 3:8; 5:7; 7:9; 23:14; 29:23; Ezekiel 23:37; Hosea 4:2; 4:13; 4:14

Hosea and the Harlot
Hosea, the prophet, was told by God to marry a harlot.  This marriage of Hosea and the harlot represented or symbolized the marriage of God to the original nation of Israel.  When the nation divided after the death of Solomon thus creating the northern ten tribes called Israel and the southern two tribes called Judah, northern Israel immediately set up two golden calves as their center of worship.  Hosea and his harlot marriage was to represent the ten tribes of northern Israel. 

To illustrate the failed marriage of God to Israel and the divorce by God, Hosea proclaimed a divorce from his harlot wife (Hosea 3:1-2).  He sent her out of his house as God sent Israel out of His house by leading the Assyrians to overthrow Israel and deport them to a place north of Nineveh around the Caspian Sea.  Later Hosea redeemed his former wife from bondage (Hosea 3:1-2) as God will redeem Israel – first through the New Covenant Church and to a greater extent during the Millennial reign of Jesus and the overcomers but also due to the New Covenant.  The redemption of Israel, Judah, and the entire world (living and dead) is the back story of the book of the Revelation which is revealed in the story of Hosea and the harlot.  However, just as in Hosea, there will be a time of divine judgment prior to the time of considerable redemption. 

The New Man
And now for a big HOWEVER:  There are issues within the law for a man (including God) to remarry his former wife who was a harlot.  Deuteronomy 24:1-4 disallows a man to remarry his former legally divorced wife. 

Isaiah 54:4-7 KJV  Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.  (5)  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.  (6)  For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.  (7)  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

The NET version replaces “widowhood” with the word “abandonment”.  The reason?  A NET note claims the next verse states that God is her husband so therefore she is not an actual widow and won’t be until the death of Jesus.

Although divorce papers legally end marriage contracts, so does the death of the husband which allows the divorced woman to remarry. 

Romans 7:2 NET  For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage.

The death of Jesus Christ (God the Son or God in the flesh) accomplished many events:  Israel became a widow; Israel was released from the Old Covenant, Sinai, marriage contract; Christ became a new man and therefore a new husband.

God’s marriage contract with Judah was still valid, otherwise Jesus, of the tribe of Judah would have been illegitimate.  However, Judah also became a widow at the death of Jesus Christ.  When Jesus arose from the dead, He began to prepare for another great marriage. By definition, all true believers have legally died and become a new person.

Among many other things, the harlot is a counterfeit bride, whose children believe that she is the mother of the inheritors of the Kingdom of God.  The harlot takes many forms, all ruled by the flesh through the Old Covenant.

Wilderness Women
The woman who fled into the wilderness of chapter 12 is the same great harlot in the wilderness in chapter 17, which has been discussed in greater detail at:  Women in the Wilderness .  The Church quickly became the Roman Church or the “little horn” of Daniel 7 speaking arrogantly and blasphemously and eventually claiming to be the voice of Jesus Christ on the earth or a type of “antichrist”.  This was when the church, on account of its religious carnality, became part of the Babylonian succession of empires.

Revelation 12:6 KJV  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The red beast that she rides is “full of blasphemous names,” showing that there are many manifestations of immorality and lawlessness in this beast.  The scarlet beast is a corporate beast, for it has “seven heads and ten horns,” which are later interpreted to mean “seven mountains”.  This corporate beast includes many kings or kingdoms.  The great harlot consists of much more than the church, but it is certainly a part of it.

The great harlot’s clothing and accessories include:  purple and scarlet, gold, precious stones and pearls, holding a gold cup of abominations.

Revelation 17:4 KJV  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

The purple and scarlet robes would describe the attire of the pope and cardinals.  Although gold cups have most likely been used in the Roman Church, the reference is taken from Jeremiah 51:7.

Jeremiah 51:7 KJV  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

The nations drank of the wine and went “mad” which the effects of alcohol tend to do.  All human flesh is a harlot, and this flesh harlot insists that she is the bride of Christ. She insists that her daughters (children of flesh) are the rightful inheritors of the earth, based upon the original calling given to Adam prior to his sin (Genesis. 2:15).  However, Adam was condemned to death, including his entire household and his descendants. The entire estate of Adam (the earth) was sold to make payment on his debt (Matthew 18: 24-25). Christ came as the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15: 45) to undo all the first Adam had done and to redeem all that had been sold into bondage to pay Adam’s debt.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  (23)  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

NOTE:  In Adam ALL die, but in Christ ALL shall live.  The lake of fire is divine justice and correction, not burning alive in hell for ever.  God, Law, & Fire  The Lake of Fire